Protective materials suitable for use in stab, impact or ballistic-resistant body armors are known in the art. The type of ballistic threat to be managed typically defines the body armor solution used. For example, soft ballistic armor designs are generally suitable for handgun bullets and non-deformable fragments. Rigid ballistic armor, on the other hand, may be used for high-energy rifles and the like. Finally, stab-resistant product designs may be used for protection from spikes and edged weapons. However, there is a growing demand in both military and civilian protection markets for materials that are effectively able to protect against multiple threats.
Currently, film impregnated fabric-based materials are available for use in multi-threat protective materials. However, known film-based solutions generally involve application of a polymer film on each side of the fabric and require heat, pressure and time to ensure good penetration of the film into the fabric. These conditions can generally only be achieved in a press, which dictates that the material is made in a sheet format. Furthermore, the sheet size is generally limited by the size of the pressing equipment used to impregnate the fabric.
There are a number of practical problems associated with multi-threat resistant materials being produced in sheet format. For example, the use of sheets tends to produce a high scrap rate during production of end-use body armor or other articles since not all patterns may fit efficiently within the dimensions of a particular sheet. Furthermore, different base fabrics may require different weights of film during manufacturing of different protective materials. Accordingly, this requires that an inventory of different films having varying thicknesses be kept on hand in order to accommodate different production runs. This is generally undesirable and may increase production costs.
Alternative fabrics that add some stab-protection to ballistic fabrics include fabrics in which abrasive additives (e.g. hard silicone carbide particles) are applied in a top coating to blunt or dull a knife or piercing edge to limit penetration. However, such products tend to shed their surface layer of abrasives over time, resulting in diminished protection.
Accordingly, there is a need for multi-threat protective materials that overcome at least some of the above noted disadvantages.